Table Of ContentNaseby 1645
The triumph of the New Model Army
Martin Marix Evans • Illustrated by Graham Turner
Campaign • 185
Naseby 1645
The triumph of the New Model Army
Martin Marix Evans • Illustrated by Graham Turner
First published in Great Britain in 2007 by Osprey Publishing, Dedication
Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford 0X2 OPH, UK
443 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016, USA For Gillian.
E-mail: [email protected] In gratitude for her love, patience and sound good sense.
© 2007 Osprey Publishing Ltd. Artist's note
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study Readers may care to note that the original paintings from which the colour
research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and plates in this book were prepared are available for private sale. All reproduction
Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a copyright whatsoever is retained by the Publishers. All enquiries should be
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, addressed to:
electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise
Graham Turner, PO Box 568, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP17 8ZK, UK
without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should
addressed to the Publishers. The Publishers regret that they can enter into no correspondence upon this matter.
Editor's note
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 1 84603 078 9 The quotations from the Diary of Sir Henry Slingsby contain a number of
common 17th-century abbreviations.
Martin Marix Evans has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and These include:
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. wch which ye the
whre where ym them
wn when yt that
Page layout by The Black Spot
wth with
Typeset in Helvetica and ITC New Baskerville
index by Alan Thatcher Acknowledgements
Maps by The Map Studio
3D bird's-eye views by 3D Origin
The chief published reference for any modern account of Naseby is the book
Originated by United Graphics Pte Ltd, Singapore by Glenn Foard which appeared only a decade ago. He, like me, was the
Printed and bound in China through Worldprint Ltd recipient of information and guidance from the principal researchers of the
battlefield, Michael Westaway and Peter Burton, who were born and brought
07 08 09 10 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 up there and are therefore intimately acquainted with the terrain, and who have
spent literally years in patient, disciplined metal detecting. What is even more
For a catalogue of all books published by Osprey Military and important, they have taken equal care in recording and mapping their work, to
which they are adding even now. My greatest debt of gratitude is to these two
Aviation please contact:
men and their interpretation of their findings.
The farmers to whom the land belongs all deserve thanks for their kindness to
NORTH AMERICA
me in permitting entry to their private property, notably Mr David Ball, Mr Albert
Osprey Direct, c/o Random House Distribution Center, 400 Hahn Road, Boulton, Mr Cyril Boulton, Mr John Boulton, Mr Roger Chamberlain, Miss Anne
Westminster, MD 21157 Haddon, Mr and Mrs Ronald Hankins, Mr Jasper Hart, Mr Jim Kelly, Mr
E-mail: [email protected] Malcolm Shepherd, Mr and Mrs Richard Tarry and Mr and Mrs William Tarry.
For their generosity in sharing their learning and their views on the English Civil
ALL OTHER REGIONS War, on the way it was fought and on this particular battle. I also thank Nigel
Garren (armourer: www.nigelcarren.com), Stephen Ede-Borrett, Glenn Foard,
Osprey Direct UK, P.O. Box 140 Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 2FA, UK
Keith Roberts, Christopher L. Scott, Charles Singleton, John Tincey and Malcolm
E-mail: [email protected]
Wanklyn, in particular, and innumerable members of the Battlefields Trust, the
Sealed Knot, the English Civil War Society and countless patient people who
www.ospreypublishing.com have been companions on tours of the battlefield. Many of them asked questions
not only to which I lacked answers, but which opened fresh lines of enquiry I had
not thought of. The Northampton Gun Company helped with information on
modern weapons.
The influence of the terrain on the Parliamentarian front and the contribution of
Okey's Dragoons to the start of the fight are ideas I have formed over a number
of years, as are my suggestions of the locations of the incident of Charles's
being prevented from joining the action and of the site of the Parliamentarian
artillery train.
Some of the illustrations and modern photographs come from my own
collection, while others have been included by kind permission of: John Kliene;
Michael Westaway; Paul Woodfield; The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford;
the Syndics of Cambridge University Library; the James Marshall and
Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript
Library, Yale University; the Naseby Battlefield Project, the Northamptonshire
Record Office; the Suffolk Record Office and Perry Miniatures (www.perry-
miniatures.com).
The account of events I give here would have been impossible to create
without the contributions of the people I mention above, but the result, full of
doubts and queries, is my responsibility alone. I have tried to adopt as maxims
the words of two men who lived through these events: Oliver Cromwell, /
beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken,
and Sir Richard Bulstrode ...it is certain, that, in a battle, the next Man can
hardly make a true Relation of the Actions of him that is next him ...So that no
Man give a clear Account... -.
Martin Marix Evans
Blakesley, May 2006.
Another skanky scan rescued by Ogon!
CONTENTS
ORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN 7
The military situation • Logistical constraints
The centres of power • Movement • The campaign of 1645
CHRONOLOGY 15
OPPOSING COMMANDERS 17
Royalist commanders • Parliamentarian commanders
OPPOSING ARMIES 22
Equipment, formations and tactics • The New Model Army
The Royalist 'Oxford' Army • Orders of battle
OPPOSING PLANS 36
Parliamentary plans • Royalist plans
THE CAMPAIGN 38
Parliamentary preliminaries • The Royalists' opening moves
The Committee of Both Kingdoms responds
The question of Oxford • The taking of Leicester
The question of Oxford - again • Parliament responds: 2-13 June
The Royalists' week: 7-13 June
THE BATTLE OF NASEBY 54
Battle plans and the start of the day • The New Model advances
The move to Dust Hill • The ground and the battalia • The battle begins
The turn of the tide • The fighting retreat • The final phase
AFTERMATH 86
Hindsight • The fortunes of the king
THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY 91
BIBLIOGRAPHY 94
INDEX 95
Sir Thomas Fairfax from Joshua Sprigge's Anglia Rediviva (Naseby Battlefield Project)
On the Cause:
For really I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to
live, as the greatest he; and therefore truly, sir, I think it's clear, that
every man that is to live under a government ought first by his own
consent to put himself under that government; and I do think that the
poorest man in England is not at all bound in a strict sense to that
government that he hath not had a voice to put himself under.
Thomas Rainsborough (or Rainborowe), of the Massachusetts Rainsborough family and Colonel,
New Model Army, at the Putney Debates, 28 October 1647,
Kings are justly called gods for that they exercise a manner or resemblance
of divine power on earth... God hath power to create or destroy; make or
unmake at his pleasure; to give life or to send death; to judge all and to be
judged nor accountable to none; to raise low things and to make high
things low at his pleasure. And the like power have kings.
James I in a speech to Parliament, 21 March 1610.
ORIGINS OF THE
CAMPAIGN
THE MILITARY SITUATION
n January 1642 Charles I had abandoned London after it fell into
Parliamentarian hands, and in October the two sides finally met in
battle at Edgehill in Warwickshire, The outcome was not decisive, but
the opportunity existed for the king to reach London before his
enemies and reclaim it for the Royalists; it was squandered and the
Royalist army was forced to winter in Oxford. Next spring they secured
the West Country, seized control of the North and captured Bristol, but
after being forced to abandon the siege of Gloucester Charles was
defeated at Newbury on 20 September 1643 and balance was restored.
In 1644 events in Scotland and Ireland came into play, with the Scots
choosing to support Parliament and a peace of sorts in Ireland releasing
forces to reinforce the Royalists.
At the end of June 1644 Charles I had the better of Sir William
Waller's army at Cropredy Bridge, near Banbury, and the Royalists
managed to evade the attempted pursuit. From Towcester the
despondent Waller had written of Parliament's armies to the Committee
of Both Kingdoms, which had overall command, saying:
My Lords, I write these particulars [of disaffection and desertion] to let
you know an army compounded of these men will never go through with
their service, and till you have an army merely your own that you may
command it is in a manner impossible to do anything of importance.
In the North the Scots reinforced the Parliamentarian army, which
defeated the king's forces at Marston Moor on 2 July, ending the Royalist
control of the North, but Waller's view of affairs was reinforced by the
failure to defeat and capture the king at the second battle of Newbury
in October, to the discredit of the earl of Manchester; this event
followed hard on the earl of Essex's defeat at Lostwithiel. The outcome
was the creation of the New Model Army, and the events of 1645 would
depend massively on the speed with which general officers could be
replaced and newly formed units could become operationally effective.
Despite the satisfaction in Royalist circles at the escape from
Newbury and the victory at Lostwithiel, the loss of the north of England
was a serious setback. The hope of regaining the region, and the
supplies and manpower that went with it, was slight given the continuing
presence of the Scots army there. The queen was on the Continent
attempting to raise reinforcements and supplies which would have to
run the gauntlet of Parliament's navy. Further, the hope of raising men
from South Wales had been frustrated by defeat at Montgomery. Sir
William Brereton wrote the next day, 18 September 1644: 7
The old city walls of Oxford
survive in New College, where
the cloister and bell-tower were
used as the Royalist magazine.
...the Lord so guided and encouraged our men, that with a fresh valiant
charge we routed and put to retreat and flight their whole army ... slew
(I do believe) 500, wounded many more, took 1,500 prisoners.. The
enemy's army was reported (and I do believe it) no less than 4,000 - the
foot being the old Irish, who came out of Ireland with Col. Broughton,
Warren, Tillier...
Monmouth was taken a week later, but the Royalists retook it in
November.
The Royalist army was quartered mainly west of Oxford that winter
and no restructuring was undertaken other than a shift in commands.
Prince Rupert became Lord General and his brother Maurice assumed
command in Wales and the Marches. A number of minor actions were
attempted, against Abingdon and against Weymouth; neither succeeded
in changing the overall position. Parliament took the initiative when Sir
William Brereton invested the important town of Chester and Maurice
was ordered to relieve the place. To do so he took the remnants of the
Irish regiments so badly cut up at Monmouth, now brigaded together as
the 'Shrewsbury Foot', from that town, leaving it defended by a couple
of hundred men. Brereton withdrew and Maurice entered Chester on
20 February, but Parliamentarian forces seized Shrewsbury in his absence
and with it the supplies he had so painstakingly built up there. Moreover,
the lines of communication in the West were now compromised.
LOGISTICAL CONSTRAINTS
The decisions taken by both sides in 1645 owed a great deal to the
necessities of supporting their war machines. The South-East of England
and East Anglia were controlled by Parliament. This gave them the
major ports and centres of commerce and agriculture as well as, because
of their possession of the navy, the control of much of the import and
8 export business. Even more vital was the possession of the magazines of
ROLLING THE EDGE OF A CHEEK PIECE
A plate of cold-rolled mild steel, Vasin thick, has been cut to shape and (a) Nigel
Carren cranks it through rolling wheels before (b) hammering it to close the roll.
The piece is then (c) curved to a dished shape. The edge of the steel is thus
(d) suited to being worn close to the skin of the face without cutting the wearer,
and is also strengthened against splitting under the impact of an enemy weapon -
a characteristic that was increased by incorporating a length of wire within the
rolled edge. The raised edge also reduces the likelihood of an enemy blade
glancing off the cheek piece into the neck or face. In a manufactory workers
would be put to a specific task, literally cranking out the various constituent
parts of a helmet. (John Kliene)
the Tower of London, the Arsenal at Woolwich and the stores at
Greenwich and, outside the South-East, the military supplies at Hull and
Portsmouth. To these resources was added the output of the arms
manufactories in the South-East. Further, the making of gunpowder
called for saltpetre (potassium nitrate), of which supplies in England
were limited, and for sulphur, which had to be imported from abroad.
Also brought in from overseas were horses and armaments, so that
control of the seaports was vital for bare survival, let alone victory.
Parliament had not only London, but also King's Lynn, Hull and the
south coast ports. This, combined with the loyalty of the navy, eased not
only the challenge of obtaining materials, but also that of supplying
forces elsewhere with men and arms.
The formation of the New Model Army early in 1645 brought with it
a new system of procurement and supply for Parliamentarian troops. A
central magazine was established at Reading and two new committees
were set up to deal with procurement and distribution. The efficiency of
this system contributed substantially to the creation of the New Model
Army as an effective fighting force. 9
Private contractors provided
wagons and pack-horses for the]
convoys of munitions.
Charles I had his court and headquarters in Oxford and his lines of
external supply depended on holding the port of Bristol in the South-West
and Chester in the North-West to maintain contact with France and with
Ireland. In Oxford new industry grew to meet the Royalist demand. As the
war continued, Bristol, which had been taken in July 1643, became a major
supplier to the Royalist armies, bringing in raw materials both from
overseas and from Wales and the Forest of Dean. By February 1644 the
Bristol gunsmiths were turning out 200 muskets and bandoliers a week.
More industry grew in the West Midlands at Stourbridge and Dudley,
sending its output to Oxford by boat down the Severn to Worcester and
then overland by cart.
The importance of Ireland as an entrepot for Royalist arms imports
increased the reliance on the ports of the South-West in the supply
chain of Charles's armies. The Irish confederates sent agents to Holland,
Rome and the leading Catholic courts to acquire arms, while the
Parliamentarians traded heavily through the east coast ports, mainly with
Holland. Both sides were sensitive in the extreme to even a remote threat
to these lines of supply. Carriage of supplies was conducted both by water
and on land. Parliament used King's Lynn and London as distribution
centres, moving goods to the magazine at Cambridge by the rivers Ouse
and Cam and to the stores in Reading by way of the Thames. The supply
of outposts such as Gloucester posed considerable problems. Convoys of
wagons or pack-horses had to be protected by armed escorts drawn from
the army. The Royalists' difficulties were even greater. The Thames
served to move arms from Oxford to Abingdon and Wallingford, but
most of the shipments were by road and were therefore vulnerable.
It was also necessary to provide troops with food and drink. As long as
funds could be raised by various forms of taxation, payment for the basic
requirements of bread, cheese and beer for the men and hay, oats and
pulses for the horses could be made. Such payment was at times in the
form of vouchers to be redeemed subsequently, and those of the Royalists,
who were forced to increase their voucher use as the war continued and
their taxable territory decreased, ultimately were not reimbursed. While an
infantryman carried about one week's food supply in his snapsack, meat
was obtained locally by purchase or plunder. The movement of troops
around the country was accompanied by loss to the local population,
sometimes compensated for, but loss all the same. This contributed to
the emergence of irregular forces, armed with whatever they could lay
their hands on, with a non-partisan animosity to each and every fighting
force. The Clubmen, as they were known, were an additional source of
10 annoyance to troops on the march.
